𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟎𝟕.𝟐

"You we're about to take a trip back to underworld?" He asked as soon as Juliet fell into him with a gasp, clutching onto her friend who let her hug him, "Thank the gods for you Grover."

"That's a nice compliment," Grover commented offering her shaky smile as they separated and their attention turned towards Percy.

"Juliet, can you do something?" Clarisse yelled out, pointing at Annabeth clutching the soaked fleece, shivering and flinching in pain, at first Juliet stood there dumbly wondering what possibly could she do in such situation when it dawned on her that her dad was the god of medicine, oh yeah she could do something.

She rushed towards Annabeth falling on her knees beside the girl as she stared up at the sun for a second before down at her hand willing for the sunshine to surge through it enough to dry Annabeth.

"You've got literal sunshine in you," Annabeth murmured with a sleepy sort of smile as her shivering slightly decreased. Juliet didn't say anything too busy humming hymns, she just smiled.

The ship tilted slightly as if about to do a Titanic and the light in her palm flickered due to the panic in her veins.

"Are they okay?" She asked back to Grover and Clarisse about Percy and Tyson while trying to provide warmth and healing to Annabeth, Grover turned to answer but before he could Clarisse yelled, "Yeah, Jackson! In your face, Cyclops!"

Still Alive. Julie breathed out a sigh of relief and focused back on Annabeth.

"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse taunted. "You throw like a wimp! Teach you to try marrying me, you idiot!"

Juliet shuddered at the comment about marriage.

"Clarisse!" Percy yelled, his voice naturally attracting Juliet's attention. "Shut up!"

Too late. Polyphemus threw another boulder, and this time it crashed through the hull of the Queen Anne's Revenge. Rocking them all and throwing Juliet beside Annabeth

You wouldn't believe how fast a ship can sink. The Queen Anne's Revenge creaked and groaned and listed forward like it was going down a playground slide.

Juliet's yell could be heard very clearly as she slid down the deck back towards the water now devoid of dolphins. "Fuckkk!"

And then her words were swallowed by the water sinking her down. Juliet hated how immobile and unhelpful she got anywhere near water. This entire quest she'd been zero help and lost more than anything but whenever she got near any water body the words of her prophecy echoed in her ear making her panic.

Her friends were sinking fast just beside her, trying to swim, without luck, in the bubbly trail of the ship's wreck. But she wasn't able to help.

Clarisse was a strong swimmer, but even she wasn't making any progress. Grover frantically kicked with his hooves. Annabeth was hanging on to the Fleece, which flashed in the water like a wave of new pennies. And Juliet was just...drowning.

Worse, pieces of timber were swirling around them; they could easily get whacked on the head by a beam.

Juliet didn't know what Percy was doing but she soon felt his arms around her just as she started loosing breath. He tried to help her by making an air bubble but the timber whacking around wasn't helping.

In the next moment Juliet didn't think, she just did it. Her survival instincts winning over everything else, she was about to loose air and there was really one immediate option left so, she did it.

Percy's arms were around her in a semi hug turning around to find a way to pull her up when suddenly his head was held by Juliet's palms, turned around and before he could think or do anything else his breath was stolen away.

Literally.

Juliet fitted her lips with Percy's breathing air through him before quickly pushing away, both of them staring at each with wide eyes.

Juliet tried to dismiss the butterflies in her stomach by trying to think straight. She'd not kissed him it was a medical process to stay alive. She'd performed expired air resuscitation....how the fuck did she know what that was!?

They didn't have much time to dwell on it as shapes shimmered in the darkness below-four horses with fish tails, galloping upward faster than dolphins. Rainbow and his friends glanced in their direction and seemed to read their thoughts.

They whisked into the wreckage, and a moment later burst upward in a cloud of bubbles-Grover, Annabeth, and Clarisse each clinging to the neck of a hippocampus. While Juliet was still clinging onto Percy.

Rainbow, the largest, had Clarisse. He raced over to them and allowed Tyson to grab hold of his mane. His friend who let Juliet get on him let Percy do the same to his mane.

They broke the surface of the water and raced away from Polyphemus's island. Behind them, Juliet could hear the Cyclops roaring in triumph, "I did it! I finally sank Nobody!"

She hoped he never found out he was wrong.

They skimmed across the sea as the island shrank to a dot and then disappeared.

"Did it," Annabeth muttered in exhaustion. "We . . ."

She slumped against the neck of the hippocampus and instantly fell asleep.

"It was basic survival first aid!" Juliet turned and rushed her words out to Percy who looked back at her wide eyed, "I mean if you were getting awkward about it and didn't want to talk to me I just-"

"You should sleep too Jules," Percy smiled back shaking his head.

"Right," Juliet turned back to her hippocampi blushing, nuzzling in his mane and letting sleep take over.

Percy didn't know how far the hippocampi could take them. He didn't know where they were going. He just propped up Juliet so she wouldn't fall off, and said a silent prayer of thanks.

Which reminded him . . . He still owed the gods a debt.

He turned back towards Juliet pushing her blonde hair out of her face and reaching towards the withered laurel still tucked on her chain.

Pocketing it, he then put his head against the mane, beside her and fell asleep.